February 21, 2013

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Gertrude’s, the much-anticipated full-service restaurant at the Desert Botanical Garden, opened late January 2013. Reservations can be made through Open Table (www.opentable.com) or by calling Gertrude’s at 480.719.8600. Garden admission is not required to dine at Gertrude’s. Hours are Monday – Sunday from 8a–9p.

Gertrude’s offers Garden members and the general public an ingredient driven restaurant experience with top-quality food, libations and service. Chef Stephen K. Eldridge focuses on a total visceral experience for guests with cuisine, wine and enhanced garden ambience. The menu showcases local ingredients from artisans and farmers around Arizona and the Southwest, including vegetables and herbs from Gertrude’s plot located onsite at the Garden. General Manager John T. Windels, CSW, ensures the full complement of highly rated beer wine, and spirits meld perfectly with the cuisine.

“Arizona has a wonderfully rich tradition of pioneering innovative gastronomic cuisine. We are excited and humbled to join and influence the Valley’s culinary landscape,” states Chef Eldridge. He continues, “Our goal is to bring a new perspective on ingredients, cooking technique, presentation and guest experience by preparing and presenting food with integrity in an uncomplicated straightforward manner.”

Gertrude’s occupies a fully renovated space that previously held the plant and gift shops. Originally designed as a greenhouse by John Douglas Architects, the team returned to repurpose the space and create a sustainable restaurant with indoor and patio dining for 170, an exhibition kitchen, private 12-seat chef’s table and expansive bar. Gertrude’s integrates nature, art and architecture blending seamlessly with the surrounding Ottosen Entry Garden. Larry Kornegay designed the signature Prickly Pear relief featured in the dining room.

Background

The restaurant’s namesake, Mrs. Gertrude Divine Webster, an environmentalist ahead of her time founded the Desert Botanical Garden in 1939. Webster, in conjunction with a small group of Valley citizens, gathered in Papago Park to create a botanical garden to educate, understand, appreciate and promote the uniqueness of the Sonoran Desert. She foresaw the potential to create a distinctive identity for the Phoenix area by envisioning the need to conserve the beautiful desert.

Alan ‘Skip’ and Chantal Hause, owners of Fabulous Food Fine Catering and Events, are Gertrude’s proprietors. The company has been a fixture in Arizona catering and food service since 1996 and has been responsible for the daily operation of the Garden's Patio Cafe since 2006. A preferred caterer for clients hosting events onsite the company is responsible for food service at Las Noches de las Luminarias, the Music in the Garden concert series and at the Fabulous Fall Festivals. It also operates the Arizona Science Center Cafe.

A “Phoenix Point of Pride”, the Desert Botanical Garden is one of only a few botanical gardens accredited by the American Association of Museums. It is a privately funded, non-profit organization and depends on revenues from admissions and gift shop sales, as well as contributions from individuals and businesses to fund its programs of environmental education, plant conservation and research. (2/13)